Tucker, Pe?a named first-time Gold Glove winners
Brian McTaggart
@brianmctaggartPHILADELPHIA -- Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker and rookie shortstop Jeremy Pe?a were named winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for being the best defensive player at their positions in the American League. It is the first Gold Glove for either player.
Pe?a is the first Astros rookie to win a Gold Glove and the first rookie to win it at shortstop. He led American League shortstops in defensive runs saved (15) and defensive WAR, per Baseball Reference (2.4). He also tied for third in the AL in zone rating (.823). He¡¯s the second consecutive Houston shortstop to win the Gold Glove, with Carlos Correa winning it last year. The only other Astros shortstop to win a Gold Glove is Roger Metzger in 1973.
¡°I felt like this year we got a lot of good work done,¡± Pe?a said. ¡°[Astros coaches] Joe Espada, Omar L¨®pez, they knew exactly what I had to work on to become a better defender. And we stuck with it all year.¡±
Tucker led all AL right fielders with 13 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs, and his eight outfield assists were second in the AL among right fielders behind Toronto¡¯s Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez (10). Tucker, who was a finalist in 2020 and ¡¯21, is the third Astros outfielder to win a Gold Glove, joining Michael Bourn (2009-10) and Cesar Cedeno (1972-76).
¡°I mean, it's a really cool trophy and a really cool award,¡± Tucker said. ¡°With Pe?a winning, too, is awesome. But it shows all of our hard work that we put in during the season trying to get better and help out our team to get off the field and try to put up runs offensively. But this is a pretty cool moment.¡±
The Gold Gloves are the latest honors for Pe?a, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the AL Championship Series, and Tucker, who was named to his first AL All-Star team this year.
¡°That's quite an honor to get a Gold Glove for him and Kyle, but especially for a rookie to get a Gold Glove as a shortstop,¡± said Astros manager Dusty Baker.
Pe?a and Tucker were among 14 first-time winners, which is the most in a single year, surpassing the record of 11 in 2020 and 1958 (the first year of the award). The nine first-time winners in the AL are the most in the league in a single year.